Anastasia (character)
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova is the main protagonist of the film of the same name. She is the beautiful youngest daughter of the last Russian emperor, Tsar Nicholas II, and Tsarina Alexandra; the youngest sister of Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana and Maria, and the older sister of Tsarevich/Grand Duke Alexei. Anastasia was the only member of the Romanow family to survive the assassination. She is played by Megan Ryan as a teen and Kristen Dunst as a child. Background Physical Appearance As an eight-year-old child, Anastasia possessed flawless fair skin, long flowing auburn hair (naturally curled at the ends), light blue eyes with naturally groomed eyelashes and thick eyebrows. Ten years later, at eighteen years of age, Anastasia has blossomed into a beautiful and attractive young woman. Despite her obvious increase in height, slimmed-down appearance, hair length, and physical development, her overall appearance remained generally the same. Anastasia shares some physical resemblance with her father, Nicholas II. Although Anastasia's mother, Alexandra, is seen only briefly throughout the entire film, and we are unable visually compare the two, but if you watch Alexandra closely she shares a great physical resemblance with the adult Anastasia, her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Marie, states that she inherited the beauty of her mother and the laughter of her father. According to Dimitri and Vladimir, Anastasia inherited Empress Alexandra's chin, Empress Marie's hand, and the seemingly renowned blue eyes of the Romanovs. In the beginning, as a teenager, she wore a black newsboy cap, a gold tunic, an olive-green overcoat, black pants, and brown boots. Aboard the ship, she wears a blue dress with white-trimmed sleeves. For the opera, she wore a navy-blue evening dress, with white opera gloves, a silver choker around her neck, diamond earrings hanging from her ears, and her hair was tied into a bun with a silver hairband. Before she entered the opera theater, she was also seen wearing a teal overcoat with a white frilly collar on the rims and white frilly cuffs on the sleeves. Personality From quite early in the film, Anastasia is portrayed as bright, spunky, stubborn, serious-minded, tough, artistic, but very kind, affectionate, nice, altruistic, sweet-tempered, tidy, accountable, sympathetic, intellectual, astute and caring, She is known to care for animals like her Pet Dog Pooka, Although She doesn't behave like royalty even though it runs in her blood. She also is a tomboy and a fighter. She was always naturally independent, and had no problem speaking her mind or standing up for herself. However, she can appear to be insecure and shy at times, such as when Dimitri reveals that she would have to prove to Sophie and Marie that she is the Grand Duchess. According to Vladimir, she was quite notorious for her mischief among the palace staff during the Romanov reign. One of Anastasia's most obvious personality traits is her high level of determination. As seen in the film, once Anastasia sets a goal for herself, she sticks to that goal until she is satisfied with her success, despite her frequent displays of insecurity. In this case, she was determined to find her family in Paris, and refused to stop until she succeeded. She is also physically very strong; when she makes her deal with Dimitri she grabs his hand and shakes it with an iron grip, making him jump and make a foul face. Afterward he massages his mistreated hand. Role in the film ''Anastasia ﻿﻿In the beginning, during the Romanova tri-centennial, Anastasia is scene as carefree and playful because she's a princess. Her grandmother, Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna (Angela Lansbury) gave her a music box that plays the lullaby, "Once Upon a December," and a locket to go with it, inscripted with the words, "Together in Paris." Then, Grigori Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) shows up uninvited and promises to kill the Romanova family. This then started the Russian Revolution and Anastasia and her Grandma were trapped in a room. But the kitchen boy, Dimitri opened a secret door that helped them escape. But Anastasia forgot her music box and when she tried to get it, Dimitri insisted that she leave while she still could. The troops then burst through the door and they knock out Dimitri but the music box is safe. Meanwhile, Anastasia and her Grandmother tried to get to the train station to escape the revolting chaos, but Anastasia's ankle is grabbed by Rasputin. But before he could finish the two, the ice of the river creaks and Rasputin sinks and drowns to the bottom. At the train station, Anastasia and her Grandmother almost make it. Anastasia tries to hang on to her Grandmother's hand, but she slipped and her head fell against the track. Marie never saw Anastasia again after that. Then, 10 years later, Anastasia (now 18) is seen leaving the orphanage she stayed at after the Russian Revolution. She is now called Anya. She then sits in front of a crossway to "wait for a sign or a hint." Out of nowhere, a dog shows up and convinces Anya to go to St. Petersburg (NOTE: Anya later names the dog Pooka). After arriving in St. Petersburg, Anya visits the abandoned Catherine Palace (in which Pooka went in first) and then she meets con artists Dimitri (played by John Cusack) and Vladimir (Kelsey Grammer). At first sight, the con duo knows for sure Anya has a strong resemblance to the real Anastasia; the two plan to bring her to Paris where the Empress is, have them meet, and the two of them will receive the grand reward for "finding" the lost princess. However, little do they know (including Anya) that Anya really is Anastasia. Meanwhile, Bartok (Hank Azaria), Rasputin's albino bat minion, notices that his master's reliquary (which has been inactive for years) suddenly wakes up after seeing that Anastasia is alive. It then drags Bartok to the Limbo, a dimension in which Rasputin has been in ever since he died. After being informed that Anastasia is in fact alive, Rasputin summons his green, bat-like minions to finish what was started 10 years ago. Meanwhile, the trio (plus Pooka) take a train to Paris but Rasputin's green minons overheat the train engine in an attempt to kill them. However, thanks to Dimitri, they all "jumped" off the runaway train safely. They then take a boat across the North Sea to continue their trip. That night, Anya slept-walked on the boat and was dreaming about playing with her family. Pooka wakes Dimitri up and shows him that Anya was not in her bed. Rasputin's minions then enter her dream and turn it into a hellish nightmare, but Dimitri wakes her before she jumped off the boat. The trio finally reach Paris to go and see the Empress but Anya had to prove she was the Grand Duchess by answering questions by Marie's first cousin, Sophie. After she vaguely mentions a boy saved her at the palace 10 years ago, Dimitri realizes that Anya '''IS' the Grand Duchess, for he was that same boy. Sophie is convinced and arranged a meeting with the Empress after a Russian ballet. Dimitri meets with the Empress and tries to explain that he really found Anastasia, but she refuses to give him the reward because he was a conman who was only in it for the money. She then calls security to escort him out and Anya heard it all. Dimitri tries to explain but Anya refused to listen, slapped Dimitri, and stormed off in anger from being tricked and used. Anya is then seen in her dressing room packing her things when she hears a knock on the door. Thinking it's Dimitri trying to apologize, she shouts "Go away, Dimitri!" Someone responds "Guess again." which an annoyed Anya asks "Then who's here?!" Then Usagi enters the room, bringing Luna there and Anya apologizes for the outburst. Usagi then shows Anya the Crystal Star and with smile, Usagi calls out "Moon Crystal Power, Make Up", transforming into Sailor Moon and revealing her true identity to Anya. She uses "Moon Crystal Power" and fully restores Anya's memory as Anastasia. As Marie enters the room, Sailor Moon jumps the window before she sees her, telling Anastasia to good luck. Marie then shows Anya the music box (which Dimitri had kept all these years) and when they start singing the lullaby, "Once Upon a December," Anya finally realizes who she really is and the two embrace in love. Meanwhile, Rasputin, having left the Limbo, is now planning to kill Anastasia "tonight." And so, Anastasia and Pooka wander through the garden and onto Pont Alexander III where Rasputin tries to kill her. Then Dimitri comes to save her but is injured and knocked out. The Sailor Senshi arrive to battle Rasputin. In the end, Anastasia crushes Rasputin's reliquary "for Dimitri, for her family, and for him" while the Sailor Senshi cheering for her. The minions then destroy Rasputin's body and he turns to dust, his remains blown away by the cold wind. Anastasia and Dimitri then make up and are portrayed in the last scene as finally becoming a couple, presumably getting married and living happily ever after. Usagi and her friends wave Anastasia goodbye. Game Relationships Dimitri Pooka Vladimir Sophie Marie Feodorovna Usagi Tsukino/Sailor Moon Grigori Rasputin Trivia *Character animation supervised by Len Simon. *Anastasia is one of the most popular Non-Disney Princesses along with Thumbelina and Princess Odette from The Swan Princess. *In reality, Anastasia died with the rest of her family on July 17, 1918. She had no descendents and her death was the most tragically famous until Anne Frank (1929-1945). *In order to get Meg Ryan to voice Anastasia, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman took a scene from Sleepless in Seattle and animated it. Ryan liked the results and signed on to the project. *Her voice-actor Meg Ryan also did Toodles Galore from Tom and Jerry Category:Non-Disney characters Category:Anastasia characters Category:Main Protagonists Category:Protagonists Category:Royalty Category:Females Category:Princesses Category:Humans Category:Titular Protagonists